


VIII. STRENGTH

by spills



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M, Mortal Man!Motoya, Motoya is simply a lad, No vampires were hurt in the making, Rin is both witch and wolf, Urban Fnatasy!AU, Witch + Werewolf!Rin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-12 14:22:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29511042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spills/pseuds/spills
Summary: One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other than human.- Loren EiseleyIt’s not really romantic, trying to rip your date apart with teeth.
Relationships: Komori Motoya/Suna Rintarou
Comments: 8
Kudos: 18





	VIII. STRENGTH

**Author's Note:**

> disclaimer: i do not have anything against furries! live your best lives furballs!!!

A full moon and he has his face buried in another's body. Gentle hands that are tangling fingers in his hair, scratching his scalp and the beginning is always the worst of a transformation. 

It's the migraine that lingers for days before the shift actually takes place - an unhelpful forewarning of **_hey have fun being a fucking furry._** It's the pressure that builds behind his eyes, as if his body wants it to pop out the socket. It's the drool that's pooling at the corner of his lips, his desperate pants becoming hoarse growls. 

The whole process is unnecessarily painful, it leaves half-a-man vulnerable. Lycanthropy isn't exactly a disease but it sure as fuck is annoying. His body feverish and his head spinning, and tongue is refusing to stay in his mouth, slipping through the space under his teeth, between his fangs. It’s gross, especially when he can feel his muscles elongate or shrink to suit his **_other form._**

**_It’d be less painful if you accepted this part of yourself._** There’s that voice again, in the back of his head, mocking in a saccharine tone. A low rumble in his throat as he fights against the thought, the idea that he’s supposed to be a beast in the first place. Curses are fucking stupid, especially when one’s merely paying for the transgressions of earlier ancestors that ended up clowning too hard, pissing off another coven of witches that had a pack with a primordial wolf god in the olden days. 

The one holding him now is human, and **_oh that scent is definitely human it belongs to_ _his_ **_**human** , _just a regular human who’s holding Rintarou’s snout close to his chest now. Even though he’s half-lucid, Rintarou knows that he must not be a pretty sight, but Motoya still cradles him close, pressing soft kisses against his eyelid. 

It’s Beauty and the Beast, only Motoya’s not a traditional beauty and in this story, love isn’t what breaks the beast’s curse. Sometimes a beast is simply born a beast, a test of endurance that asks **_how long will you be able to love me as both man and beast?_**

Mid-transformation and a pained howl tears through Rintarou’s throat. Each time he thinks the transformation is already excruciating enough, he remembers the little inconveniences that pile up. His body convulses - all fives senses except touch loss so the wolf thrashes against whatever it may be that’s holding him down.

* * *

_(“You don’t have to spend full moons with me ‘toya. Don’t you remember what happened the first time?_

_“Shut up. You know that I’m here because I want to be here yeah? It’s my choice. You're a bad boy with a feral streak, maybe that’s exactly what brings all the boys to your yard.”_

_“Oh my god. You’re the worst. How can you say something so- hey! Stop laughing! Komori I swear I am going to-”)_

* * *

“Hey buddy, hey,” it’s a soft chuckle that drags Rintarou back to his senses, “Rin. Babe, baby, it’s just me.” The words are indulgent placations but it’s sweet and fond, and the last bit of rationality left in Rin’s dog brain knows the whimper that escaped him is embarrassing. It’s embarrassing because all he is now is a big dog on top of a man with a ruined shirt and strong arms.

* * *

_(At least he doesn’t have to feel guilty this time around. There’s no need for bandages to cover up grazes of fang and claw. No bite marks either. Rintarou doesn’t have much memory of the first time Motoya witnessed him transforming - he was only privy to the aftermath. Lucidity brought back by Motoya who had held his jaw with one hand and stuck the other hand shoved into his mouth, grabbing his tongue._

_It's a miracle Rintarou didn't instinctively bite down on Motoya's arm._

_**“Hey Rin, you back yet?"** _

_It was ridiculously scary - Motoya should have left him, should have ran, but if Motoya ran - Rintarou wonders if he would have chased after the man to tear him apart. In a world teeming with magical creatures, Rintarou wonders what it's like to be simply human._

_Is that how Motoya had gained that devil-may-dare gleam in his eyes?)_

* * *

"You're heavy," Motoya continues speaking in a conversational tone, "Overgrown big boy, that's what you are," scratches the back of Rintarou's ear and kisses the tip of his wet nose. 

The sound that escapes Rin is a pitiful whine, letting his limbs loose to crush the man underneath him. "Rin! No-" and Rintarou cuts Motoya's protest short with a lick to his cheek, another lick that earns the wolf a mock agitated "Hey!" and by the time Rintarou has decided to liberally slobber all over his human's face, Motoya has broken into helpless giggles. His lips have split into a relieved smile as he presses a hand against Rin's mouth. "Feeling alright buddy? You know I dragged you out to the woods under the guise of _camping_ was so you had more space to run wild." 

After the initial numbness, all of Rintarou's senses are heightened. He may not have his ears pressed against Motoya's heaving chest, but the other's heart beats loud like a drum. Instead of having Motoya tucked under his chin on the couch back at his apartment, Motoya’s underneath his paws on a blanket laid out under the night. No stars to be seen because the moon is full and if the moon were never full, maybe Rintarou could pretend he’s just as human as Motoya every single night, forget the magic, the infernal blood in his veins. 

Humans are rare these days, and Rintarou wonders how Motoya passes his days blind and deaf to the intricacies of mother nature and the world. 

When they first met, all Motoya had was himself, 181cm of man crashing into him on a skateboard on the sidewalk, bubblegum that had popped against the collar of Rin’s shirt and a swear. Chased downtown by some younger vampires from university that he couldn’t be bothered to talk down and couldn’t be bothered to rumble with that night. Rin ended up casting a wall of fire between them and the newly turned fledglings, getting Komori’s phone number as compensation - **_you can bill me for the bubblegum stain, or call me for other reasons_** he had said with a wink.

* * *

_(It’s **meet reckless** \- they go on a few dates over the span of weekdays. Fool around on weekends. _

_When the first full moon hits after they’ve finally, finally have started to get to know each other, the Rintarou back then had cursed himself endlessly the next morning. He had called Komori with shaking hands and a raspy voice - having forgotten that date night was a full moon - telling him not to come over._

_Wrong move because that only spurred Motoya to come over even faster . Rin almost being the cause of his doom. It’s not really romantic, trying to rip your date apart with teeth.)_

* * *

His nose may not be pressed against Motoya’s hair now, but he can still smell the citrus shampoo that the other man uses, the clean scent of bar soap from the shower. There’s also the scent of him, which is when he notices that Motoya has _again_ stolen one of his hoodies. If he was capable of speech now, Rintarou would chide the other man, tell Motoya to stop taking things that don’t belong to him, especially if the stolen item in question belongs to a witch. A witch usually curses all material possessions so it remains with them forever. 

Wolves however, are territorial beings and his stupid dog brain merely thinks **_woof! IlovehimIlovehimIlovehim,_** tail thumping against grass and dirt that betrays his usual cool demeanor. Rintarou hates being undignified, but it’s fine, _it’s fine_ \- it’s only Motoya after all, Motoya who gets to see him like this.

* * *

_(And he’s the only one who’s gotten to see Motoya admit to being fearful._

_It was a dance around the living room, Rintarou attempting to nip at Motoya’s heel. Man and beast dancing around the coffee table, claws tearing up the carpet before Rintarou had gotten impatient and jumped the man. Knocked the coffee table over as they rolled over the ruined carpet, hands that attempted to grab limbs before Rintarou had ended up on top, baring fangs and howling victorious._

_Motoya’s eyes had reflected moonlight that slipped in through the open window, breeze loftily brushing against the curtains before he finally grabbed Rintarou’s jaw and forced the wolf to bow his head. Looked into Rintarou’s own eyes with an even as he admitted slowly, “You’re scaring me right now Rin,” licked his bottom lip but continued to speak, “Just a little bit,” before sticking his arm into the beast’s maw._

_He’s seen Motoya stare scarier things in its (not) eye, like the abyss in their university abandoned hallway and declare “I’m not afraid of you.” In this shitty one bedroom apartment, man makes the reckless decision of choosing fear._

_Absolute madman. Fucking insane. **How could Rintarou not fall in love with that?**_

_It's the shared vulnerability that did him in.)_

* * *

“Come on Rin,” Motoya makes a playful attempt to shove Rin off, “I know I said that I did this for you, but I was thinking it’d be kind of romantic, if we could, you know, take a moonlit walk by the lake.” Laughter isn’t allowed as a wolf, so his amused snort will have to suffice. Bubbles from his dog heart in fatal fondness that he knows Motoya catches, seeing how his human swats at him with more bright laughter as Rintarou finally gets off him.

The cicadas chirp loudly, the owls hoot loudly, there’s a rabbit hiding somewhere in between the bushes behind them. All of the forest demanding Rintarou’s attention, the stars too, even if they can't be seen, the moon wanting his gaze on it now. It’s a futile plea from his surroundings as he makes his way towards the sound of water lapping gently against a shore.

It’s impossible to pay attention to anything aside from Motoya kneeling in front of him on one knee, murmuring “Let’s go.”

**Let's go** is all the man asks of him, and so Rin follows - even if Motoya's walking in the wrong direction. They'll find their way back eventually. 

**Author's Note:**

> all i do is either scream too much or ghost on the blue bird [ void ](https://twitter.com/rinrintoya)


End file.
